Cuban dissident wins Sakharov freedom of thought prize

EMF – Today, Guillermo Farinas, a 48-year-old Cuban dissident, was named winner of the European Parliament’s 2010 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Farinas, ‘a doctor of psychology, independent journalist and political dissident’ who has held 23 hunger strikes over the years to protest the Castro regime.

Farinas believes the award to be ‘a prize for all the peaceful opposition on the streets, all the prisoners in jails and all the exiles who have had to leave Cuba because they cannot survive with a regime like Cuba’s,’ he told over telephone from his home in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara.

‘Farinas’ latest hunger strike ended on July 8, after 134 days, as Havana announced the release of 52 political prisoners following mediation by the Catholic Church. Farinas was chosen by the EU assembly’s political leaders, beating two other finalists: Ethiopian opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa and Breaking the Silence, an Israeli NGO that campaigns against the military occupation of the West Bank.

The outcome was in line with expectations, as the winner had been supported by the European People’s Party (EPP), the EU assembly’s largest group, as well as by the smaller European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR) and 91 other EU lawmakers.The result was announced by the parliament’s president, Jerzy Buzek.

Farinas is due to receive 50,000 euros (70,000 dollars) at a ceremony on December 15 in Strasbourg, France. It remains to be seen, however, whether Cuban authorities will allow him to travel.The dissident said Thursday that he was considering a hunger strike in case Cuban authorities do not allow him to collect the prize.

The EU assembly’s prize, named after Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, a nuclear physicist who turned to campaigning for democracy and nuclear non-proliferation in the Soviet Union, was instituted in 1988, a year before the scientist’s death.Previous winners include the leader of Czechoslovakia’s Spring of 1968 uprising and former president Alexander Dubcek (1989), Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (1990), former UN secretary general Kofi Annan (2003) and Russian civil rights NGO Memorial (2009).

Disclaimer: We are not responsible for any losses or damages that may have caused by using our services. EMF declines all responsibility for the contents of the materials stored by users. Each and every user is solely responsible for the posts.

Posted by ethioforum
on October 21, 2010. Filed under NEWS.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.

August 7, 2017 HRW Dispatches By Felix Horne — Ethiopia’s parliament has just lifted the country’s 10-month-long state of emergency. The government’s emergency powers brought mass detentions, politically motivated criminal charges, and numerous restrictions on people’s movement and communication. While the end is welcome news, thousands remain in detention without charge, none of…

Dr. Maulana Karenga – Frantz Fanon (July 20,1925–December 6, 1961), noble ancestor and teacher of the righteous, radical and transformative word; believed in Africa’s capacity to repair, raise and renew itself, and in the African people’s will to unite and liberate themselves , bring into being a new world,…

London – Ethiopia won a second silver medal at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 after Tamirat Tola finished in second place in the men’s marathon race Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya, the 2017 Boston marathon winner, extended his country’s record as the most successful nation in the history of this event at the IAAF Championships. Tola, the…

Brian Homewood LONDON (Reuters) – Ethiopian Almaz Ayana destroyed the field to win the 10,000 metres at the World Championships on Saturday, finishing around 300 metres clear of her rivals in her first race of an injury-plagued season. The Olympic champion began pulling away from the field after 10 laps,…

Conference Theme “Building Democratic Institutions in Ethiopia” (የዲሞክራሲ ተቋማትን በኢትዮጵያ ስለመግንባት) Vision Ethiopia, an independent network of Ethiopian scholars and professionals, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio (ESAT), is pleased to announce that the Fourth Conference will be held in Washington D.C. on September 23 and 24, 2017.…

By Muktar Omer — THERE is something truly hilarious about Ethiopian government’s occasional ‘anti-corruption’ crackdowns. Corruption is endemic in Africa and anti-corruption strategies are politicized and have largely failed across the continent. Ethiopia is not an exception. Where Ethiopia brings a new expertise is in the art of covering up…